Publications and guidance

Publications and collections are the content we most often publish on GOV.UK

How we use publications

We use publications for:

• publishing standalone government documents - they are date-stamped, and usually not updated once published
• white papers, strategy documents and reports

Do not create a publication:

• when you should be adding an attachment to another content format
• for meeting minutes (these should be attached to the correct governance page)
• for videos 

Content should follow the GDS style guide and guidance on writing for GOV.UK:

• titles should be short and user-friendly
• titles should be front-loaded, with the most important words at the start of the sentence
• the summary should be short (up to 160 characters) and end with a full stop
• body copy should describe the publication in plain, neutral language

You should also consider if:

• publication pages should be short and straightforward
• users need to know if they should open the document, and if the information meets their needs
• relevant keywords and phrases should be included for search and SEO purposes

HTML publications are presented on GOV.UK just like other document formats (such as PDFs) except they are created in HTML format.

How to ensure pages display correctly in search engines

Titles of documents should be 65 characters in length, maximum.

This is because when the page appears in search, Google will only display up to 65 characters from the title.

Example:

If the title is longer than 65 characters, the title will be shortened in the search results.

Example:

This makes it more difficult for the user to clearly locate the information they are looking for.

Best practice examples of publications and collections

Publication: